Has Google Gone Too Far?

Just a few days ago the word started traveling around the web that Yahoo and MSN may be hammering out some deals behind closed doors on how they can defeat Google. You may have read that they are also getting some welcomed support from other giants like www.Ebay.com

The way I see it is that if MSN and Yahoo seriously want to hit Google where it hurts they’ll need to begin taking publishers and partners away from Google. MSN recently had a major win against Google when they convinced www.Amazon.com , www.A9.com , and www.Alexa.com to discontinue using Google for their “powered by” search results. They will need to continue this in full force if they intend to make a dent in Google’s user base.

Article from Site Pro News: “MSN Going After Google” http://www.sitepronews.com/archives/2006/may/8prt.html

The series of events over the next few months will prove very interesting. As Google begins to grow faster and larger then anyone is comfortable with, this has spurred a watchful eye from all companies in the online arena. Google's newest "Google Base" http://base.google.com is what I believe the giants are most afraid of.

Google Base is a service similar to www.craigslist.org where people can upload products and items for sale. This is becoming a major worry to companies like www.Amazon.com and www.Ebay.com . The rumor that Google is interested in developing an online payment system similar to www.paypal.com isn’t making anyone any happier either.

Article from Investors.com: “Ebay Reportedly Talks to Yahoo and MSN”
http://www.investors.com/editorial/IBDArticles.asp?artsec=17&issue=20060421

What I see coming in the near future is Google's "Google Base" becoming a standard part of Google's search result pages. They have been randomly testing the Google Base results mixed with web results for at least a month or so now. I have seen Google Base products appear within search results for localized search phrases, one of which being real estate. Basically, I would search for local real estate and the first things I would see where houses for sale which were listed on Google Base.

Imagine the catastrophic nightmare that will become reality once Google introduces Google Base in full force. A person searching for "headphones" on the internet may not find www.bestbuy.com or www.circuitcity.com as they once did - they will find "Google Base" results.

Imagine for a minute how financially catastrophic it will be when this person searches for "headphones" and the first thing they see on a Google search page is four pictures of headphones ready to be bought directly off of Google base. That’s right, right smack in front of the user will be photo images of items for sale on the Google Base system and a quick click of the mouse will bring a user right to the listing. If Google has their way, there will even be a simple checkout process in place to simplify the transaction and put a percentage of the transaction in Google’s pocket.

The companies that once praised Google for sending all this traffic to their products will not only be pushed down in the search results, but they will ultimately be pushed right out of business. This is exactly why MSN and Yahoo will begin to get the support of the giants similar to how www.Amazon.com has began to turn a cheek towards Google already, and others will follow.

The writing seems to be on the wall. Google wants our business - all of it.

They have created www.orkut.com so they can be www.myspace.com
They have created http://base.google.com so they can be www.craigslist.org
They are looking to create a payment processor to compete with www.paypal.com

All of this will come into play as Google begins to dominate the Internet. They are no doubt becoming "the core of the internet" and a lot of people are just not comfortable with this.

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